'Game is won in the trenches,' says Leach

PULLMAN — In his chat with Cougar fans via wsucougars.com, Mike Leach said there will always be two priority areas when it comes to any recruiting class of his...

With only about eight weeks to fully recruit, Mike Leach and his staff hauled in plenty of players with BCS offers. During his chat Leach was asked about the biggest area of need.

"The offense and defensive lines will always be huge priorities for us," Leach said. "I believe that games are won in the trenches and we will always put a huge emphasis on finding quality lineman."

The Cougars signed 11 players to fit that mold with six coming on offense, and five coming on defense.

THE SIGNATURES ARE barely dry but next year has already begun.

"Coming into this deal late it was obviously important for us to spend the majority of our time concentrating on finishing out the class of 2012 on a strong note," Leach said. "At the same time we are always looking towards the future and finding quality players regardless of their age. We look forward to getting on the road this spring and finding even more potential Cougs."

Future Cougs will be primarily coming from California and Washington according to Leach, however that won't stop him from recruiting other areas as well. Leach had tremendous success recruiting in Texas during his 10 years at Texas Tech, and figures the relationships he was able to build in the area could allow him to continue to recruit in the Lone Star State.

"We expect to have a presence in Texas," Leach said. "Recruits grew up watching some of what we did at Texas Tech and there will be many kids from that state who will want to play for us. We will concentrate our recruiting efforts in the states of Washington and California, but we will also look to other places such as Texas to find the best available talent."

AS FOR REELING in quality talent into Pullman, Leach demonstrated that wasn't an issue with this class, with sought players from Washington, Arizona, Hawaii, California, Florida, Texas, Colorado and American Samoa signing today.

"Washington State University and the city of Pullman are an easy sell to top recruits," Leach said. "The fan base, the administration and their commitment to excellence is very apparent to kids when they step foot on campus. There is a great deal of excitement and passion here at WSU and recruits want to be a part of it."

NOTABLE NOTES:

Leach was also asked which quarterback is his starter going into the spring, and he said that Both QBs Jeff Tuel and Connor Halliday will both be evaluated come spring ball.